School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern, Northern Ireland.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Sep 18;24(1):1091. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11481-3.
Virtual Reality in mental health treatment has potential to address a wide spectrum of psychological and neurocognitive disorders. Despite the proven benefits, integration into clinical practice faces significant challenges. There is a critical need for research into clinicians' perceptions of virtual reality due to the gap between rapid technological advancements and their adoption in mental health services.
A scoping review was conducted to comprehensively understand clinicians' perspectives on the application of immersive virtual reality technologies within mental health settings. 4 data bases were searched, from inception, with the search areas of clinicians', technology, perspectives and mental health. The scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR checklist. All results were thematically analysed to identify and categorise themes with a focus on qualitative analyses of clinicians' experiences and perceptions of VR applications in therapeutic contexts.
17 articles were selected, encompassing a range of mental health settings. The findings indicate that the integration of VR in clinical environments is heavily influenced by clinicians' knowledge and experience, with unfamiliarity often leading to scepticism. Positive attitudes towards VR, bolstered by direct experience and training, were found to drive acceptance, as clinicians' acknowledged its potential to complement traditional therapies. However, there are still gaps in understanding VR's therapeutic applications, particularly concerning its impact on human interaction and its suitability for specific patient groups. Balancing VR's clinical benefits with ethical and safety concerns is crucial, especially when working with vulnerable populations. Furthermore, structural and administrative support is essential to overcoming the financial and logistical challenges of VR implementation, ensuring its safe and effective integration into mental health care.
While VR holds significant potential for enhancing mental health care, its successful integration into clinical practice necessitates addressing existing gaps in knowledge, training, and structural support. By carefully balancing its clinical benefits with ethical, practical, and safety considerations, VR can be effectively utilised as a valuable tool in mental health treatment, providing innovative solutions while ensuring that patient care remains paramount.
虚拟现实在心理健康治疗中有潜力解决广泛的心理和神经认知障碍。尽管已经证明了它的好处，但将其融入临床实践仍然面临着重大挑战。由于快速的技术进步与心理健康服务中的采用之间存在差距，因此迫切需要研究临床医生对虚拟现实的看法。
进行了范围综述，以全面了解临床医生对沉浸式虚拟现实技术在心理健康环境中的应用的看法。从一开始就搜索了 4 个数据库，搜索领域包括临床医生、技术、观点和心理健康。该范围综述遵循 PRISMA-ScR 清单。对所有结果进行了主题分析，以确定和分类主题，重点是对临床医生在治疗环境中使用 VR 应用的经验和看法进行定性分析。
选择了 17 篇文章，涵盖了各种心理健康环境。研究结果表明，VR 在临床环境中的整合受到临床医生知识和经验的强烈影响，由于不熟悉，通常导致怀疑。对 VR 的积极态度，通过直接经验和培训得到了加强，被认为是推动接受的原因，因为临床医生认识到它可以补充传统疗法。然而，对于 VR 的治疗应用的理解仍然存在差距，特别是关于它对人际互动的影响及其对特定患者群体的适用性。平衡 VR 的临床效益与伦理和安全问题至关重要，特别是在与弱势群体合作时。此外，结构和行政支持对于克服 VR 实施的财务和后勤挑战至关重要，确保其安全有效地融入心理健康护理。
虽然 VR 具有增强心理健康护理的巨大潜力，但要将其成功融入临床实践，就需要解决知识、培训和结构支持方面的现有差距。通过仔细平衡其临床效益与伦理、实际和安全考虑因素，可以有效地将 VR 用作心理健康治疗的有价值工具，提供创新解决方案，同时确保患者护理仍然是最重要的。
